Redemption Be Thy Name

By Adam W Parks

Monday, November 30, 2009 Stars 1 @ Red Wings 4

There were many redeeming qualities about this game, both personally for several of the Red Wings players and for the team as a whole. Roughly two weeks ago I was in Detroit to see the band Phish play at Cobo Arena while the Wings hosted the Dallas Stars. As I jammed out in Cobo, the Wings were upended at the Joe. That loss would begin an unsettling four-game losing streak for Detroit at home...and I blame myself. I should have been there for my team instead of rocking out with my friends, drinking $9 beers from the concessions, and second handedly inhaling from an atmosphere that was 80% ganja. For that I apologize.

The Wings had not endured a five-game losing streak at home since 1986, way back when Stevie Y had a fresh-looking face and two fully functioning knees. As if this season has already been screwy enough, Mike Babcock and his team really did not need this on their minds, and I did not want it on my conscience. In that game against Dallas back on the 18th of November, Brad May had a goal disallowed that might have changed the complexion, and possibly the outcome, of the game. The lynch-worthy miscall made headlines around the NHL and even was talked about on ESPN, the Worldwide Leader in Sports (besides hockey). Fortunately for the Wings, they did not have to wait too long to seek redemption, and they got a whole lot of it on Monday.

Wings Get Another Bad Bounce To Go Their Way: Good Luck or Good Hockey?

Luck, or fate, or whatever that intangible thing is has not been on Detroit's side much this season. From untimely injuries to poor refereeing to the inexplicable bouncing of the puck, the Wings just seem to be on the wrong end all too often. Perhaps they have been on the karma payment plan for past successes, or perhaps all that luck stuff is just a big pile of poop.

Whether it was a crap-goal or a fortunate bounce of the puck, Drew Miller picked up the first goal of the game and his second of the season by deflecting it off of two Stars players. Now one might say that it was a lucky play, a prayer of a shot as Miller had a very slight angle to shoot from. A slightly more logical approach would be to point out that Miller hustled his way to the puck and lifted the stick of Dallas defenseman Karlis Skrastins to negate an icing call, turned to face goaltender Marty Turco to set up his forehand, and did what every hockey player is taught to do when in a pinch: shoot the puck. The puck careened off the stick of Tom Wandell and deflected off the elbow of Trevor Daley and into the net past Turco.

The play was similar to the previous Detroit goal scored in regulation time by Henrik Zetterberg against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday. Hank, from behind the Blues net, backhanded the puck towards the front of the goal and was aided by a gracious elbow from defenseman Barrett Jackman. The goal tied the game late in the third and forced overtime in St. Louis in what was one of the more exciting regular season games of the season. Good things happen to those who work hard and try their best.

A Case of Good and Bad Timing On a Bad Goal That Could Have Been Worse

Dallas was able to tie the score with less than 15 seconds left in the game when Stephane Robidas sent a slow wrister towards the net and Brendan Morrow deflected the puck underneath the pads of Jimmy Howard. It always breaks the back a little to give up a late goal in a period, especially when you have a one-goal lead. It kills all the positiveness that your team should have had and instantly shifts momentum in the direction of the other team.

Yes it was a bad goal to give up at a bad time of the game, but it could have been worse. Tomas Holmstrom had just stepped out of the penalty box seconds before Morrow got the tip-in, avoiding a power play goal for Dallas. A goal is a goal is a goal, whatever. The Stars scored twice with the man advantage in their victory over the Wings on the 18th in what resulted in a 3-1 game. Detroit's penalty kill has been as porous as a shower drain this season and was ranked third in the league at just 75.6%. So even though they gave up the goal at even strength, the Wings went on to be a perfect four-for-four on the night and only allowed five shots with their penalty killing units. A small but moral battle won despite a late first period goal.

Third Time's the Helm

Darren Helm may never get a better look at an open net than he did during the overtime session in St. Louis on Saturday. In fact, he had two chances to win the game in about the same amount of time that it takes to say his name. How appropriate that the guy who missed out on a dramatic game-winner against the Blues in overtime got the eventual game-winning goal against the Stars.

The goal was an absolute thing of beauty, a true team effort that would have met the approval of the Russian Five. The puck was exchanged eight times with six different Wings touching the puck before Helm finally buried a wrister on the stick side of Turco. Pavel Datsyuk passed the puck back to Nicklas Lidstrom who moved it up to Kris Draper who then dropped it back to Lidstrom who sent it across to Jonathan Ericsson who dished it forward to Todd Bertuzzi who halted at the blue line to give it back to Draper who carried it deep into the Dallas zone before sending it bouncing towards the front of the net. The puck got by Bertuzzi, who had his stick lifted, but it found its way to Helm who was undefended on the play, and this time he made sure to bury it in the back of the net. In the past two games Helm has a goal and an assist and a plus-three rating in over 33 minutes of ice time. He has greatly stepped up in the wake of the injury tsunami: he has three goals, seven points, and is a plus-three. Pretty good for a guy who figured to be spending time this season driving back and forth on I-96 to and from Grand Rapids.

"What Is and What Should Never Be"

According to Stephen Davis, author of Hammer of the Gods: The Led Zeppelin Saga, "What Is..." is a song that Robert Plant penned about a supposed love affair he had with his wife's younger sister. In the context of the Wings, I shall use it to illustrate the past few games for Daniel Cleary. "What is" for Cleary was his fifth goal of the season and the third Wings goal of the night against the Stars. "What Should Never Be" were the calls made by the referee during the game against Calgary last Friday that negated a pair of goals for the Newfoundland native. He scored twice in that game, but one was waved off due to an awful call for incidental interference with the goalie, and the other was disallowed after an early whistle. What would Plant do in a situation like that? His wife's mother?

Cleary has been a regular on the top two lines for Detroit this season but has struggled, like many, to find consistency with his scoring. He got his first goal of the season during the second game of the season and then went into a slump that lasted twelve games. When he snapped that nasty streak, he went on to score three times in four games, but his goal against Dallas was his first in the last eight. Sounds suspiciously familiar of another winger who also spends much of his time on the top lines for the Wings...

Bert Scores One That Satisfies the Stats

He was the hero on Saturday when he fired a backhander past Jon Casey to beat St. Louis in a shootout, but against Dallas Todd Bertuzzi was just a guy looking to end a scoreless drought during the timed portion of a game. The shootout goal against the Blues did not go down in the stats, but his unsuspecting wrister past Turco in the third period on Monday did. Bertuzzi, like Cleary, has accepted a lot of pressure to score goals by consistently skating with the likes of Datsyuk and Zetterberg. But unlike Cleary, Bertuzzi does not get a free pass from Wings fans for prior accomplishments when he does not produce results. The goal against Dallas was Bert's first in ten games and fourth of the season; more are hopefully to follow. If he and Cleary can be a little more consistent with the scoring it will take some pressure off of Dats and Hank (both have been absolutely swamped by defenders in the past several games) from trying to do too much.

Here is a clip from a post game interview with Bertuzzi. Try to count how many teeth he has. I came up with threeve, which of course is a combination of three and five.



Let's Drink One for the Goalies!

Both Howard and Turco played great for the Wings on Monday. For Howard, it was his second straight victory after Detroit had dropped three in a row. For Turco, well, let's just say he is welcome to play at the Joe whenever he feels like it.

Marty, Marty, Marty. Coming into the game Turco had a lifetime record of 1-8-2 in Detroit. Guess what it is now. If you guessed the obvious 1-9-2, then you are obviously correct. One would think that the guy whom Don Cherry dubbed as the "smartest goalie in hockey" could come up with some sort of formula for winning at Joe Louis Arena. There is no good explanation for this phenomenon (other than he has a terrible fear of octopi) as he is no stranger to the glorious state of Michigan. The guy grew up in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, just a few locks away from the border of the Upper Peninsula and the wonderful Five-Star resort of a university that is Lake Superior State. Brady Hall, what? He went to the University of Michigan and helped the Wolverines win two NCAA National Championships. And before he became the regular guy in Dallas, he was the puck stopper for the Stars' top affiliate, the Michigan K-Wings in the now-defunct International Hockey League. In high school, a couple of my buddies (Dart and Fox) and me had season tickets for the K-Wings and we would drive to Kalamazoo and watch Turco play. I remember wishing he were in the Detroit system. He was awesome...he is awesome...except when he is in Detroit.

Back to Howard real quick. Mike Babcock said after the game that Howie will get the next start for the Wings over Chris Osgood. With Ozzie's recent struggles after coming back from the flu (0-2-1), could this be the beginnings of a change at the starting goaltender position? Babcock (sorta) addresses that topic, amongst others, during some post game questioning.



Griffin Eggs

Power MeechWith Niklas Kronwall out for a few months with a knee injury, Derek Meech has gone from the perpetual healthy scratch to a guy whom the Wings count on night in and out to support the defense, and now he is even getting some power play time. Meech played the fewest amount of minutes amongst all Detroit defenders against the Stars with just 14:45 of total ice time, but he was second to only Lidstrom (4:45) in power play minutes with 3:10. No stranger to the man advantage, Meech was one of the Griffins' most reliable blue liners on the power play during his days in Grand Rapids.

With Kronwall out, and Jason Williams also sidelined, Meech will get to see plenty of opportunities manning the point for the second power play unit, and he has a couple of experts to take notes from.

"It takes a little while, but when you got guys like Lidstrom and Rafalski to watch from and learn from in practice, it makes it a little bit easier,'' Meech said. "I'm just trying to get out there and be simple, not do anything out of my realm, just get the puck to the net as much as possible.''

He had three shots on goal against Dallas but was left still looking for his first point of this NHL season. He has played sound, responsible defense in his own zone thus far, and if he can set up a few power play goals he will further ease the discomfort of missing Kronner.

Mickeyisms

As usual, Mickey Redmond had a couple of quips on Monday night that were worth repeating. The first he uttered during the replay of Miller's goal, specifically in regards to his hustle in negating an icing call that set up the score. "Drew Miller's the guy that upset the apple cart." What does that mean?

Later, near the end of the first period, Ericsson was called for a soft penalty that lit a fire under Mickey's ass. "If we're going to get penalties on a play like just happened to Ericsson, we might as well not allow hitting. And no touching anybody in this game. It's tag football now folks. That's awful."

Peace

Bert's Heroic Effort and A Little Bit of Reminiscing

By Adam W Parks

Saturday, November 28, 2009 Red Wings 4 @ Blues 3 SO



Oh how Saturday's contest against the Blues had the feeling of a playoff game. Sure, the stakes were not nearly as high as, say, a double-overtime game seven in the second round of the playoffs, but it did have that must-win feel for the Wings. It was a battle for pride, for last place in the Central Division. The Blues had won four of their last five games coming in. Detroit was on a three-game winless streak and had been shutout twice in a row for the first time since 2001. They looked like a blind firing squad shooting in every direction, hitting only one target in 111 shots in those three contests. That is a shooting percentage of 0.009%. When things could not get much worse for the Wings, they came out and played possibly their worst period of hockey of the season and headed to the locker rooms distraught, disheveled, and down 2-0 to St. Louis.

A First Period From H-E-Double Hockey Sticks

As unappealing as the title to this segment is, it is nothing compared to how the Wings played in the first period against the Blues. Detroit looked like a drunken hiker tromping and stomping around aimlessly in the woods, while St. Louis lay coiled and ready to spring an attack at any misstep from the Wings. Despite allowing two goals in the opening session, Jimmy Howard played outstanding and stopped numerous quality scoring opportunities from the Blues, particularly on an Andy McDonald breakaway attempt. Brad Stuart had stepped up into the play and Nicklas Lidstrom, not quite a super-hero, could be everywhere at once. But Howard made a fantastic save to keep the score somewhat respectable. St. Louis's defense did an excellent job of keeping the Wings forecheckers against the boards and kept the puck away from the ice in front of Chris Mason. Detroit was able to muster 12 shots on net but Mason was scarcely challenged as he only faced two true scoring opportunities. St. Louis had 13 shots and six high-quality scoring chances, though it seemed like they had twice that amount. The score could have easily been 5, 6, or even 7-0 after the first 20 minutes, but Howie was huge.

The Two-Goal Lead Theme

If you recall, both of the games that these two teams played in Sweden to kick off the season resulted in victories for the Blues after the Wings had led at one point in each game by two goals. It was hard to imagine that Detroit would be able to recover after such an awful first period and reverse that theme. Mike Babcock's comments to his players during the first intermission were surely laced with profanity and disparaging remarks about the team's performance...well, at least that was my reaction. In fact, this is word-for-word, albeit edited, what I wrote in my notes during the first break in play:

They better @#$%ing wake up quick and start hitting people and playing with some @#$%ing emotion. Complacency and @#$%ty play, hunkering down and doing the same god-damn thing isn't working. Try something else. It's one thing to out-play the opposition and not be able to score, but to get out-@#$%ing-played and look like complete horse @#$% means something is definitely wrong. They say the Wings had two scoring chances, but I didn't @#$%ing see one of them.

Whether or not he screamed and cried like me, Babcock's message sunk in as the Wings went from complacency to assertiveness and finally found the back of the net, ending a 175:57 goal-less drought. And it was a beauty! 2:35 into the second period during the Wings' first power play opportunity of the game, Pavel Datsyuk fed a rink-wide pass deep within the Blues' zone to Henrik Zetterberg who quickly faked a shot and sent the puck in front of the net towards Tomas Holmstrom. Holmer easily tipped in the pass for his tenth goal of the season and his first in eight games.

The play was amazing, a typical power play goal for the Wings in the style that had been extremely scarce as of late. Ken Daniels was even hesitant to make the call, as even he seemed to have been lulled into a state of scoreless stupor. The goal woke everyone up on the Wings' bench and the ice began to tilt in Detroit's favor. Kris Draper tied the score at 2-2 early in the third, and Zetterber got a late miracle goal to force overtime after Brad Boyes had given the Blues the lead again midway through the period. Finally! A bad bounce that was good for Detroit! From behind the net, Hank backhanded the puck towards a pile of players in front of Mason and got an assist from Blues' defenseman Barret Jackman's arm. It was Zetterberg's tenth of the season, tying him with Holmstrom for tops on the team, but the hero of the game had yet to reveal himself.

Bert Score Goal. Bert Win Game. Bert Good. Unga Bunga.

Remember that old Scooby Doo spinoff cartoon character Captain Caveman? He kind of reminds me of one of the Wings...Anyway, Todd Bertuzzi finally got a puck past a goaltender that did not hit a post. A year ago, Bert would have been a winger on the Wings' third line at best. This season he has been given plenty of opportunities to perform and regain a shred of his elite scoring abilities from when he was skating around with Markus Naslund and Brendan Morrison in Vancouver. From the 1999-00 season through 2005-06, Bertuzzi averaged better than 69 points per season, and twice he averaged more than a point per game. His most prolific period came in 2002-03 when he racked up 46 goals and 97 points in a full 82-game season. With his combined size and skill, he was once one of the most formidable players on the ice, but injuries have taken a toll in recent years. Now healthy, the Wings had high hopes that he would be able to show a version of his former self this season.

It would have been unreasonable to assume that Bert could post numbers similar to those during his haydays as a Canuck, and nobody had honest anticipations of that. However point totals similar to his last two seasons was not out of the question of expectation. In 2007-08 with the Anaheim Ducks, Bert potted 14 goals and 40 points in 68 games. The following season, now with the Flames in Calgary, he bettered those numbers in two less games (15 goals and 44 points). He also took 23 less penalty minutes wearing a Flames jersey than he did with an Anaheim sweater. No doubt Ken Holland and Mike Babcock looked at this slight, yet certain, increase in numbers and felt that Bertuzzi could come back to Detroit and bolster a depleted roster that lacked tough guys and goal-scoreres.

To be honest, Bertuzzi has looked like a neanderthal on skates this season. Despite hustling, his style of skating appears pedestrian. Slower than a tricycle with square wheels. He has been winging it with Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg for most of the season and has not been quick enough, hands and feet, to keep up with his centermen. He is a grinder, a wear-you-down type of player who, if given the space, can hurt you. He has not been able to consistently create space for himself this season and is often out of place and/or unprepared for plays and passes from Datsyuk and Zetterberg. The Wings cannot afford to drop him down as they need him on a top-line right now because of injuries, but he would be better suited on a third line with say Darren Helm and Kris Draper. How dangerous would the fourth line be with Justin Abdelkader centering with Bertuzzi and Brad May/Patrick Eaves/Kirk Maltby?

Bert has been trying, hockey gods help him, but pucks have not gone his way so far. His shots on goal total of 72 is second on the team behind Zetterberg (100), and he has hit more posts than a 16-year-old girl behind the wheel of her parents car. His ten points and minus-five rating are disappointing, but his three goals on the season is down-right disturbing when ice-time and linemates are taken into consideration. He has rotated between the first and second lines and has received plenty of time on the power play all season long. In the past seven games he has skated less than 15 minutes just once, and that was Saturday in St. Louis (13:52). Yet he has just one point during that span, an assist that coincidentally came in that same game against the Blues.

But Bert may have exemplified Detroit's grit and determination better than any other Wing against St. Louis. Of all the skaters on the Detroit bench that were gripping their sticks too tightly, Bertuzzi became the hero during the shootout when he froze Blues' goalie Chris Mason with a silky forehand to backhand move and effortlessly roofed the puck for the game-winner. With that deke and that shot he proved that he still has the hands to score upwards of 20 goals in this league...he just needs to start doing it in regulation now. If Bert can get some consistent goals, he may be the catalyst for this Wings team that is in desperate need of some consistent scoring.





Griffin Eggs

Howie Does It Again-Howard is lookin' good. He played a stellar game in St. Louis and was the only bright spot for the Wings in that forgettable first period. He stopped 31 of 34 shots in regulation, turned away the Blues only shot in overtime, and snuffed out Brad Boyes, David Perron, and T.J. Oshie in succession after giving up the first shootout goal to McDonald. Whereas Chris Osgood has struggled of late, Howard has been steady in relief. Here is how the goalies matchup through 25 games played.

Ozzie has a record of 6-5-3 with a goals-against average of 2.75 and a save percentage of .897% in 829 minutes of play. He has one shutout, a 29-save effort that came against the Boston Bruins. Howard is 6-4-1 with a 2.70 GAA and has stopped .902% of shots faced in 690 minutes of time between the pipes. He does not have a shutout, but he does have a point--an assist on a Zetterberg empty net, hat trick goal against Anaheim.

In a November to forget, Osgood has not found much success after returning to the roster due to an illness. He is 2-3-1 this month, but he is 0-3-1 in his last four starts after missing nearly two weeks with the flu. Howard filled in admirably when Ozzie was shut down by winning three starts in a row, and is 5-2 this month. Any doubts about this guy deserving this opportunity with the Wings should be dismissed. He has deserved and earned my respect.

Nugs and Notes

This post is a bit stat-heavy, so I figured I would reminisce about that 1996 game-seven thriller over the Blues a little bit. I was 15 and a freshman in high school. I remember the game was on a school night because I was exhausted the next day in class after staying up all night long watching and freaking out. I found myself gnawing on my fingernails on Saturday in the same manner as I had back on that night in 96, and since the outcome was the same, I figure why not? Let's look back on one of the best Wings game ever played.

That Blues team was great in coach Mike Keenan's first season in St. Louis, though they lacked cohesion. The team traded for Wayne Gretzky in February of that season with hopes that reuniting him with Craig 'Hat-less' MacTavish, Shayne Corson, Glenn Anderson, and goaltender Grant Fuhr would ignite some Edmonton Oiler-like magic in St. Louis. The Blues also sent ripples through the league by trading Brendan Shanahan to the (sigh) Hartford Whalers for Chris 'The D-Bag' Pronger. Forget about the names already mentioned, the roster was still sick and stacked as Gretzky also captained Brett Hull, Al MacInnis, Dale Hawerchuk, Geoff Courtnall, Stephane Matteau, Igor Kravchuk, and Charlie Huddy.

Fuhr was injured during the final game of the regular season and was only able to appear in two playoff games, but Jon Casey stepped in and played out of his freaking mind. The dude looked like Dominik Hasek circa the Buffalo Sabres years. The Blues actually led the favored-Wings in the series 3-2, but Detroit stole game six in St. Louis, and then this happened at the Joe:



It was one of the most thrilling sports experiences of my life. The circumstances around the game, the goal, the Captain (Steve Yzerman was rumored to be traded away before the start of the season), heightened the sensation to a frothing, boiling, frothy-boil, evident by the team's dog-pile on Stevie Y and their delay to shake the losers' hands. The loss crushed Gretzky and set a tone for future Wings V. Blues matchups; Detroit knocked St. Louis out of the playoffs in three-straight seasons, and won the Stanley Cup in the latter two.

Peace.

Attack of the Dreaded Gray Area (Again)

By Adam W Parks

Friday, November 27, 2009 Flames 3 @ Red Wings 0

I do not want to engage in any cliche metaphors, but you got to be kidding me with these NHL rules. The league desperately needs to get its rule book straight, black and white, cut and dry, whatever. The game is decided on goals being scored; events that do not occur that often in a 60 minute game. THEY HAVE TO GET THESE CALLS RIGHT! There is a replay/review system in place but it is not utilized properly. How league officials wittingly put referees into a position to make game-deciding calls based on judgement, assumption, and (gulp) subjectivity?

Avoiding another tired cliche, the Wings have been the victim of some very poor calls this season. These piss-poor calls have resulted from piss-poor decisions made by referees who deserve a golden shower. But they cannot be held entirely responsible for being the morons they are and missing the calls they do. Oh no, the idiots at the top are the ones who truly deserve to be micterated upon. Here is the official rule from the official rule book. Read it, then watch the play, and make a decision for yourself.

Rule 78: Protection of Goalkeeper

The revised crease rule is intended to implement a "no harm, no foul, no video review" standard. The rule is based on the premise that an attacking player's position, whether inside or outside the crease, should not, by itself, determine whether a goal should be allowed or disallowed - i.e., goals scored while attacking players are standing in the crease may, in appropriate circumstances be allowed. Goals should be disallowed only if: (1) an attacking player, either by his positioning or by contact, impairs the goalkeeper's ability to move freely within his crease or defend his goal; or (2) an attacking player initiates more than incidental contact with a goalkeeper, inside or outside of his goal crease. Incidental contact with a goalkeeper will be permitted, and resulting goals allowed, when such contact is initiated outside of the goal crease, provided the attacking player has made a reasonable effort to avoid such contact. The rule will be enforced exclusively in accordance with the on-ice judgement of the Referee(s), and not by means of video replay or review.

a) If an attacking player initiates contact with a goalkeeper, incidental or otherwise, while the goalkeeper is in his goal crease, and a goal is scored, the goal will be disallowed.

b) If an attacking player initiates any contact with a goalkeeper, other than incidental contact, while the goalkeeper is outside his goal crease, and a goal is scored, the goal will be disallowed.

c) In all cases in which an attacking player initiates other than incidental contact with a goalkeeper, whether or not the goalkeeper is inside or outside the goal crease, and whether or not a goal is scored, the offensive player will receive a penalty (minor or major, as the Referee deems appropriate).

Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. Here is the clip of Dan Cleary's disallowed first period goal from Friday's game against Calgary:



You decide. Did the referee make the correct call? Did Cleary obstruct Mikka Kiprusoff from moving in the crease or making a save? Should this type of play, one when a puck goes in the net, be automatically reviewed? Should NHL referees be held responsible and be absolutely positive about plays that result in a goal? Did Detroit get ripped off again? My own answers go in the order of NO, NO, YES, YES, YES.

A Desert On Ice

The Wings could use an oasis, and Joe Louis Arena is not an option right now. (Okay, so I broke down and used one cliche metaphor. So what, I'm writing this on a Saturday afternoon during a holiday weekend.) They have scored just five goals in their last six games and are scoreless in the last 153 minutes and 22 seconds of playing time. They have been shutout in back-to-back games on home ice for the first time since March of 1977. How about some compare and contrast? The Wings are 11-9-4 through 24 games this season. The Wings were 7-13-4 through 24 games that season. The Wings finished dead last out of five teams in the Norris Division that season with 41 points. The Wings are currently fourth out of five teams in the Central Division this season with 26 points. That season featured the stellar goaltending of Jim Rutherford and a potent scoring attack from Walt McKechnie, Dennis Polonich, Dennis Hextall, Nick Libett, Michael Bergeron...alright, so these Wings do not resemble those Wings in any way. This is just another slump. Just another hill on the horizon before that break out game on the other side. Just one of those times when Mike Babcock says:

"Sometimes, things don't go your way for a while. Are you going to hang your head and feel bad, or are you just going to keep staying determined? I was very proud of our team. We had a lot of good players. We got to stay the course, and we'll break through and we'll be a better team for it.''

Just one of those occasions when Nicklas Lidstrom says:

"We've been going through struggles in the past, too, but now we're not able to get goals. We're getting the shots, getting chances, but the puck's not going in for us. We have to continue to shoot the puck. We still have the confidence. You can't get frustrated, you can't let that get to you, you have to continue to dig in and work hard. It's going to turn for us."

Just one of those cases when Henrik Zetterberg says:

"When it's not going as you want offensively, you just have to stick to the things you do right -- shooting the puck, crashing the net, be there for rebounds. You just have to keep going and be more efficient when you get the chances.''

Just one of those instances when I say:

"Sometimes you gotta make homemade Sprite from lemons and limes...like coming up with a cool Radiohead reference when trying to stay optimistic about the Red Wings."

"You can try the best you can.
If you try the best you can,
The best you can is good enough." ~ Thom Yorke

Check out this interview with Ken Holland from The HUGE Show radio network. Holland discusses the abundance of injuries, the lack of scoring, and what the Wings will need to do to "button down the hatches". Granted, his optimism came before the first of the back-to-back shutouts, but whatever, it is doubtful his opinions have changed too much after two games. Personally, I am reserving any apprehension for this season until the All-Star break. Sure the loss to Calgary made me want to vomit my Thanksgiving dinner all over my table at the Buffalo Wild Wings in my hometown of Coldwater, Michigan, but I caught the bile in the back of my throat and washed it down with a tall Sam Adams, and then turned my attention to the Michigan State v. Florida basketball game...

Singing the Blues Tonight?

The Wings play the Blues tonight in St. Louis. This is the first time the two teams will meet since the Blues took two games in a row from Detroit in Stockholm, Sweden. If the Wings cannot get their shots to find nets without referees waving their arms around like confused zebras, they could find themselves at the bottom of the Central on Sunday. With 26 points Detroit only has a two-point lead on St. Louis, while Chicago (34) leads the division. Nashville (29) and Columbus (26) rank second and third in the Central respectively.

Worst case scenario for tonight: the Wings lose in regulation to the Blues and the Blackhawks beat the Kings, putting Detroit at the bottom of the division and ten points away from the top. Best case scenario for tonight: Wings get a win, Hawks loose in LA, and Detroit is only six points from the top.

As bad as it seems, the Wings are still in striking distance of the summit of the Central. Detroit is not getting out-played--they have out-shot their opponents 217 to 137 in the past six games--but they are getting out-scored 15-5 during this 1-4-1 stretch.

Peace.

Happy Thanksgiving Atlanta...I Hope You Choke

By Adam W Parks

Wednesday, November 26, 2009 Thrashers 2 @ Red Wings 0

Of all the ridiculous places to put an NHL team...Phoenix, AZ, Sunrise and Tampa Bay, FL, Nashville, TN...Atlanta, Georgia has to be the worst. And who names a team after a bird that is not an eagle, or a falcon, or a hawk, or a raven? What are thrashers anyway? Read on, you'll find out that they are much dumber than penguins. (Sorry, but when the Wings lose in a shootout, I do not have much to talk about, so I'm pretty much going to rip on the Thrashers franchise for a while here.)

Why Atlanta? Why Thrashers?
















Seriously, I cannot think of a single thing that I like about the Atlanta Thrashers. Not one. Nope, nothing. I would like to know what NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was thinking giving the state of Georgia a franchise. He must have gone delusional sucking fumes while stuck in traffic on the 403. Ever drive through Atlanta on the way south to have fun in a different state? It sucks, trust me. Anyway, the city already has three respectable professional sports teams: the Braves, Falcons, and Hawks. College football is huge with the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech, and Nascar/auto-racing is massive with the Atlanta Motor Speedway just miles away from the city. So, why try to jam hockey into an already over-crowded sports market?

The Thrashers entered the league in 1999 and have served as nothing more than a springboard for free agency sign-aways and trade deadline deals. A place where the elite can go to pad their stats and earn bigger contracts without those nagging pressures of playing in the playoffs. Remember where Marion Hossa came from before he ditched the Penguins for the Wings for the Blackhawks. Yup, Atlanta. The Thrashers have never won a playoff game, and the only time they reached the post season was in 2007 (first round sweep by the New York Rangers). Hossa led the team that season in goals (43), assists (57), and points (100). In the middle of the following season, as Atlanta sank back to the depths of the Eastern Conference where they belong, Hossa was dealt to the Pittsburgh Penguins. It was his third season in a three-year, $18 million contract with the Thrashers. A seemingly great situation for a guy to score a ton of points and become a perennial all-star right? Wrong. Hossa couldn't wait to get out of Atlanta because it is not a hockey town. Go ask Dany Heatley, Marc Savard, or Keith Tkachuk how they liked playing down there. In the last year of his contract, let us count down the days before the Ilya Kovalchuk, the franchise's leading goal-scorer and assist-maker, is sent packing for a contender.

Honestly though. How are players supposed to concentrate on the game of hockey in Georgia when all they can think about is picking peaches?














Want to know what a thrasher is? You are looking at one. Yup, the brown thrasher (Toxostoma rufum) is the official big, bad, bird of the state of Georgia. It belongs to the same family that boasts other ferocious winged wonders like mockingbirds. Mock--Yeah! Ing--Yeah! Atlanta--Yeah! Now, a long time ago at Lake Superior State University, I was a biology major, but I switched (for the first time) to English only three years into the degree process. I never took ornithology (the labs for that class were at 6 AM on Saturday mornings!), so I will refer to Wikipedia for some insight to the nasty, fly and let die lifestyle of the thrasher:

The Brown Thrasher is brown or reddish-brown above, with a white breast and throat streaked with brown, and two white bars on each wing. It has a long tail, and its beak is also relatively large and somewhat curved. Adults average about 29 cm (11.5 inches) in length.

It is difficult to see all this however, as the bird is a retiring type that prefers thickets and heavy brush, often searching for food in dry leaves on the ground. In fact, it is more likely to be heard than seen, not only because of the rattling of leaves, but also because of its call, a sharp lip-smacking type sound. This bird is omnivorous, eating insects, berries, nuts and seeds, as well as earthworms, snails and sometimes lizards.

An omnivore! How terrifying! It's like a tiny, warm-blooded, feather-covered pterodactyl! I have actually heard something about the thrasher's diet that Wikipedia failed to mention. Although they do sample a wide-assortment of food items, they really prefer nuts over anything else.

Absolutely positive that there is nothing I like about the Atlanta Thrashers.










The Russian Three?

Oh how we love to remember how amazing it was to watch Russia's finest exports (this side of Anna Kournikova, Maria Sharapova, and vodka) play around with the Detroit's opposition in the mid-1990s. The Russian Five! Sergei Fedorov was the ungrateful marquee guy. Igor Larionov was the 'Professor'. Viatcheslav Fetisov was the grand-father. Vladimir Konstantinov was the 'Impaler'. And Vyacheslav Kozlov was the guy that was inconsistent who never really reached his potential in Detroit so we traded him to Buffalo for Dominik Hasek.



Kozlov has carved out a fine career in the NHL and has been in Atlanta since the 2002-03 season. On the current Thrashers roster he is joined by fellow countrymen Maxim Afinogenov and Kovalchuk to form a trio of Russians that are highly-skilled and can offer their own style of Soviet play today. Going into the game Wednesday night against the Wings the three were all ranked in the top six in scoring for their team, and it was they who slayed the Wings at the Joe. Kozlov led the way against his former team with a power play backhand goal in the second period off a great feed from Kovalchuk. It was Kozlov's fifth goal in the past six games against Detroit. In the first period he and Afinogenov both assisted for Nik Antropov who, despite the -ov last name, is not Russian, rather Kazakhstanian.

The 40 Year Old Virgin Got Luckier More Than the Wings Did On Wednesday

The Wings are struggling to get goals right now, that much is obvious. Detroit has scored just five times in the past five games and is 1-3-1 in that stretch. Watching them try to put the puck in the net on Wednesday was like watching Andy try to put his...I mean Pavel Datsyuk even tried flipping the puck over Thrashers goalie Ondrej Pavelec from behind the net! Tomas Holmstrom actually got a great scoring chance off the play! The Wings threw 19 shots on goal, ten on the power play, in the first period alone...uh oh. They finished with a total of 40 shots on Pavelec. Pavelec finished with a total of 40 saves for his first career NHL shutout. It was just the second time that Atlanta has won in Detroit and their third victory overall against the Wings in twelve tries.

The Turtle Tank

And now I would like to introduce a new segment to LAMP THE LIGHT. This is the first ever appearance of The Turtle Tank, my version of the doghouse, just a little more tailor-made for me. It will not appear in every post; I shall use it at my own discretion when I feel a certain player deserves calling-out. If you read my last post, you might think that Todd Bertuzzi would be swimming with turtles. Not so, not after Ville Leino's performance on Wednesday.

What is up with this guy? Of all the skaters that the Wings were counting on to step up and fill the void of the free agency losses, Leino had the highest expectations as far as goal scoring. He has just three goals and five assists in 22 games played this season. There should be no reason for the lack of production as Mike Babcock has regularly given him opportunities to skate on Detroit's top lines, and he has received consistent power play time. It is amazing that a guy with as much skill and opportunity that he has cannot put the puck in the not more often, though it was not his inability to score against the Thrashers that got him in the Tank.

Leino made a season's worth of terrible mistakes against Atlanta and they all resulted from a lack of hustle and urgency. Two of the following three examples directly affected the scoring of the game while the third easily could have.

1) Antropov should never have scored that goal in the first period. Afinogenov sent a pass across the crease in front of Jimmy Howard and Antropov was right there to tap it in. Who was following late in the play, behind Antropov, bent-over and reaching out lackadaisically and uselessly with his stick? Instead of coasting into your own zone Leino, try taking a few strides and tying up the guy who is in front of you.

2) Detroit had plenty of quality opportunities to score against Pavelec, but the best chance came off of Zetterberg's stick from a lazy dish from Leino. Dan Cleary came into the Thrashers zone and forced Pavelec to skate forward and play the puck off the boards at a bad angle. Leino was able to pick up the puck inside the blue line and sent a molasses pass to Hank for a one-timer. The pass was spot on, it just took way too long to get to Zetterberg. Pavelec had plenty, almost too much, time to recover and made a glove save that looked more spectacular than what it actually was.

3) The game could have been 1-0 in favor of the Wings if Leino had been moving his feet and playing with a sense of urgency. The following play almost made it 3-0 Atlanta. In the second period, the always-dangerous Kovalchuk brought the puck in for a one-on-one against Nicklas Lidstrom. Harmless right? No big deal. Kovalchuk actually avoided Lidstrom and took the puck to the outside, allowing a lane for the trailing Thrasher, Anssi Salmela. Lidstrom, now out of position, had to make an awkward play on the puck and drew a critical penalty to stop the breakaway on Howard. Who was slowly following the play for the Wings? Leino crossed into the zone with a few nonchalant strides and made no attempt to catch Salmela. The penalty came just a few minutes after Kozlov's power play goal, and Atlanta has the fifth-best power play (23.5%) in the league, whereas the Wings (74.4%) have the third-worst penalty kill. The Thrashers did not score, but the penalty did keep the momentum in their favor for most of the second period.

So there he is folks, Ville Leino, the first turtle in the tank. When I see young guys, former Griffins like Darren Helm, Jonathan Ericsson, and Justin Abdelkader hustling on every shift, and the new veterans like Brad May, Patrick Eaves, Drew Miller, and yes even Bertuzzi working their butts off to fit into the Wings system, it seems shameful that Leino continues to slack off. He has already been benched once by Babcock, perhaps a trip to Grand Rapids would get this guy's head straight and feet moving. Too bad the Wings cannot afford to do that right now.

Mickeyisms

Because I have not had a good Mickey Redmond quote in a while, here are two. After Leino's lame pass to Zetterberg, Mickey said, "There was only one problem with this play and that was the pass took too long to get there, and it gave the goaltender time to adjust and make it look easy." When Datsyuk lifted the puck over the net and Holmstrom chopped away in vain at the puck, Mickey said, "That's the reason when Holmstrom comes off after a shift the puck's got about 8 chips in it. He just keeps hacking and whacking at it."

Peace. Happy Thanksgiving.

Who's Got My Schwarzenegger? I'll Even Take A Carl Weathers Right About Now.

By Adam W Parks

Monday, November 23, 2009 Red Wings 1 @ Predators 3

Monday night was the first of six regular season meetings between Detroit and Nashville and by the looks of things each game will be significant in the standings. Going into the game the Wings held a one point advantage over the Predators, and after the game the roles reversed. After a sluggish start to the season, Nashville has rebounded in a big way with a current six-game winning streak and a seven-game home winning streak, and are now 4-0 over Detroit in the last four games dating back to last season. The Predators have been basically a one line team with Jason Arnott centering with Steve Sullivan and J.P. Dumont, though the main reason for their recent success has been the goaltending.

So Much For The Sophomore Slump

Pekka Rinne won the starting goalie job in Nashville over the incumbant Dan Ellis last season. As a rookie, Rinne went 29-15-4 with seven shutouts, a 2.38 goals-against average, and a .917 save percentage in 52 games played. He was beat out for the Calder Trophy by fellow rookie puck-stopper Steve Mason of the Columbus Blue Jackets, but unlike Mason, Rinne is not suffering from a dreadful sophomore slump. After losing his first three starts, he is now 10-1-0 in his last eleven and has gotten each of his teams wins during the current six-game run. Like Mason and the Blue Jackets last season, if Rinne can keep up his stellar play all season long the Predators will be back in the playoffs despite any inefficiency in scoring.

Missing some of their biggest, baddest guns (most recently Kiklas Kronwall who is lost for 4-8 weeks from a knee-to-knee collision with George Laraque on Saturday), the Wings were unable to hold back the Predator onslaught. Nashville was able to win the little battles, getting to the loose pucks and forechecking with high-effectiveness. Detroit could not find any sort of rhythm until midway through the third period, but by then Rinne had already gotten into his own groove. The Preds outshot the Wings 11-9 in the first period, and 10-6 in the second, and then Rinne turned away all 16 Detroit attempts in the third. Too little too late. There are two trends, themes if you will, to this season that I have seen and have written about before. 1) Many teams in the Western Conference are not only stronger this year compared to last year, but these teams are highly motivated to beat the long-time kings of the West. 2) Obvious as it is, the Wings do not have the depth to overcome injuries on a night-to-night basis as they have had in the past 10-15 seasons. It is very unlikely that either of these themes will change much throughout the season, but as long as Detroit can maintain a level of consistency through the injuries, which I have full confidence that they will with Mike Babcock behind the bench, they will be in much better shape later in the winter and spring time. By late-December/early-January Valtteri Filppula and Jason Williams will be back, Kronwall towards the end of January, and Johan Franzen not too long after that. I am not concerned, it just kinda sucks right now.

Has Anyone Seen My License To Kill? Please Check The Lost And Found.













The penalty-killing units for Detroit have been awful this year. How awful? 74.4% for 28th place out of 30 in the league kind of awful. Wow. I did not think it was that bad until I looked it up, but sure enough only Toronto and Florida are worse with a man in the penalty box than the Wings. If you think that is bad, it gets worse...much worse. Detroit is second in the league with the lowest penalty minutes per game average (9.3) behind Nashville! One of the least penalized teams in the league is also one of the worst penalty-killers, not exactly a recipe for winning close games. Oh, and the Predators had scored at least one goal in nine of their last 13 games and were 10-0-0 when scoring with the man advantage this season. Make that 11-0-0.

Monday night Detroit had 8 PIM and allowed two power play goals, including the first goal of the game by Jason Arnott, pictured above. Count the number of Wings you see in the picture, not counting Chris Osgood, and then subtract the amount of skaters that are supposed to be on the ice during a penalty-kill. That's right, all defenders collapsed in front of Ozzie and Arnott was still able to score...off his own rebound. The Wings are not going to win many games 9-1 or 7-4 this year; they must be prepared for close games every night. That said, the penalty killing must get much better in a hurry, because allowing two power play goals in a game will result in more 3-1 type losses.

I Think I Smell Erat

Martin Erat could not be stopped on Monday. This cheese-eating vermin had only scored two goals all season long before he put two more past Ozzie. His first was a nasty one-timer he sent just under the cross-bar. Osgood had no chance on the shot while Erat stood all alone at the left circle with a clear lane to the net. It was an amazing shot, but a gimme-goal. He led all Predators and tied Henrik Zetterberg for the most shots on goal in the game with five, and he also had four takeaways against the Wings. Erat could've/should've had a few more goals in the game, or at least set up several others, if it were not for Osgood. Late in the third period Erat made a play along the boards that sprung a 2-on-1 for Nashville. If it were not for Ozzie's stick, it would have been an easy goal (see picture below). However it was all for naught as Erat would score his second of the game just seconds later off the ensuing faceoff with just 2:20 left in the game, all but sealing the win for the Predators.














Miller's High Life

All game long the Wings struggled to create quality scoring chances, whereas the Preds were able to waltz the puck into the blue ice in front of Osgood at will. Nashville did a very good job holding their own blue line and slowing up Detroit's forecheck. When the Wings did get the puck down low, Predator defenders were able to keep the play along the boards by pushing shooters to the outside and keeping the puck away from any open ice in front of Rinne. The lone bright spot for Detroit in this game, besides Ozzie's valiant effort in vain, was the work by Drew Miller. Miller picked up his first goal as a Wing in the second period to close the Nashville lead to 2-1; it was his first of the season and the only Detroit goal of the game. Sometimes, if you cannot create a play, just make a play. Miller took the puck down low along the boards, circled a defender and made a strong move towards Rinne and buried it in the back of the net. It was a great individual effort when all efforts by the team had fallen short. He was rewarded for his hard work in the third period as Babcock bumped him up from the fourth line to skate with Zetterberg and he nearly scored again from a nice feed from Hank. In a game that saw the Wings stars get stifled on every shift, Miller provided a lot of life and gave the Wings an opportunity to win the game. Here is a dorky picture of him and his brother, Buffalo Sabres goalie Ryan Miller.


Griffin Eggs

Looking Just Meechy-With Kronwall out for a while, Derek Meech will see some consistent playing time. Meech is a solid player, a very reliable defender in Grand Rapids for the Griffins over the years. He is not a guy who will score a bunch, or make any devastating Kronwall-like open-ice hits, but he is a guy that can offer solid, sound defensive minutes. He played 14:19 on 20 shifts on Monday skating with Brad Stuart, and logged 1:17 in power play time. Meech was quick with the puck and played physical in his own zone. A replacement for Kronner he is not, but a solid fill-in for the time being he is definitely. Watch for him to get more power play opportunities in upcoming games.

Nugs and Notes

The Return of BerTURDzzi-Okay, we are over a quarter of the way through the season now and it is about time to start yanking on Todd Bertuzzi's leash. The controversial forward was brought back to Detroit, much to the chagrin of the fans, to be a physical presence and score goals. My own personal feelings were if he could net 20 pucks and stay out of the penalty box for stupid reasons, I would be alright with the signing. He is not the most penalized Red Wing, but his two last night were definitely dumb, one for interference in the first period (which resulted in Arnott's PPG) and one late in the third that stalled Detroit's momentum. In the NHL if you do not skate and keep your feet moving, you will get called for a lot of penalties when you use your stick and/or hands on an opponent. Through 22 games Bert has just three goals with one on the power play and has a team worst minus-5 rating. Project that scoring production over the season and he will be lucky to notch twelve. He is second on the team with 60 shots behind Zetterberg, and his shooting percentage is an atrocious 5%. It will be so nice to have Filppula and Franzen and Williams back so this guy will not have to play on a top line or on the power play unit anymore.

Darren's Debut-Darren McCarty held his own on the Versus Network's analysis team, though he did seem a little unsettled at times when breaking things down. I was really hoping he would reach over and yank on Brian Engblom's stupid mullet, but that probably would not have been a good career move. I loved the second intermission interview with Kris Draper...you knew Drapes was going to rip his old buddy a little bit: "D-Mac, you're doing a great job bud, but I know that suit's definitely a rental. There's no way you bought something like that." The comment got a good laugh and loosened McCarty up a little. Hopefully we will be seeing more of him in those rental suits this season!

Peace.

Wings Lose Lead and Kronwall, but Still Get Shootout Victory in Montreal

By Adam W Parks

Saturday, November 21, 2009 Red Wings 3 @ Canadiens 2 SO













The Wings lost a 2-0 lead against Montreal when former Wolverine winger Mike Cammalleri potted two goals in the third period. It was the second game in a row that Detroit had given up a lead and found themselves skating during post-regulation minutes. The Wings were able to hold on for the win from Pavel Datsyuk's shootout goal earning two precious points, but they lost something just as valuable as the victory.

Kronner's A Goner For At Least A Month

The ravenous injury bug has bitten Detroit often this year, but up until now it has only lusted the blood of forwards. From the core of the defense, Nicklas Lidstrom, Brian Rafalski, Niklas Kronwall, Brad Stuart, and Jonathan Ericsson, there have only been three games missed this season: Rafalski once and Ericsson twice--both with the flu. The Wings have been able to overcome severe hits to some of their most potent scorers, but this new chink in the defensive armor might damage the roster more than any prior injury.

Kronwall suffered a severe sprain of his MCL (medial collateral ligament) when the hated-Hatian George Laraque stuck his leg out and caught Kronner with a knee-to-knee hit. Here is the video if you missed it:



Although Laraque only received a two-minute minor penalty for tripping, everyone affiliated with the Wings was angered over the malicious-looking play. General manager Ken Holland had this to say, "Was it knee-on-knee? Yes. Was it a dirty hit? Yes...it was a play we don't need in hockey." Coach Mike Babcock agreed with Holland, "It's something that shouldn't happen in hockey. A guy shouldn't hang his leg out there and hurt another guy. It's unacceptable and it's disappointing."

After an MRI on Sunday it was determined that Kronwall will miss at least a month and possibly eight weeks. Kronner had arguably been the Wings' best and most active defender this year. We all know and love him for his crushing open-ice hits, but his offensive skills have really elevated his play this season. He leads all Detroit defensemen and is third overall on the team in scoring with 13 points, and three of his five goals have come on the power play. Only Tomas Holmstrom and Datsyuk, each with four, have more PP goals than Kronwall.

To describe Laraque's hit, I will turn to the immortal words of Ron Burgundy: "If you were a a man, I'd punch you. Punch you right in the mouth. That's bush. Bush league." Seriously, this kind of goonery does not have a place in sports. Not even in a game that glorifies and requires physical play and sometimes fighting. Watch Brad May when he fights someone. He is not looking to seriously injure his opponent, rather, send a message to the other team that you better not hurt my guys. That is hockey. This BS knee-to-knee stuff is nothing more than one man realizing he's been beaten and not being able to accept the fact. It is disrespectful to the game and to the players. Burgundy would never punch a woman in the mouth, but what about a dirty, thoughtless, talentless jerk-face that does yoga? How about a big fat vegan baby that is willing to cheap-shot his fellow peers, but cannot bring himself to eat a burger or drink a glass of milk?



Laraque is a thug and not much more than that, which is actually fine within certain parameters. The NHL has been peppered with thugs throughout the history of the league and have even given them proper names: enforcers. Ahem, how many of us Wings fans loved to watch Bob Probert pummel any idiot dumb enough to breathe on Steve Yzerman? How about Joey Kocur? Tie Domi is one of the most hated dudes in all of hockey, but you have to admire a guy that stands only 5' 10'' and can go toe-to-toe with anybody in the league...ever. Enforcers are absolutely necessary in the NHL to keep other players honest, to limit cheap shots on the skilled players. It's when incidents like Laraque's hit on Kronwall occur that these enforcers turn to goons, or thugs, or talentless ass-clowns. I have read message boards and some people are saying Kronner deserved it because of his propensity for leaving his feet and hitting high. Sorry, Kronwall may be a marked man because of his hitting, but nobody deserves to lose time due to injury for a blatant, gutless cheap-shot.

Is A Suspension Enough?

For the hit on Kronwall, Laraque deserves a lengthy suspension, and will certainly get one. But if you look at the play in its entirety, he probably ought to miss some time for the high stick he put on Darren Helm just moments earlier. Watch it again if you missed it. The two players separated from each other along the boards and Laraque smacked Helm on the mouth with his stick as he started skating in the opposite direction. There was no apparent reason for the action at all, whether he would have hit him on the nose or the butt. He received a double-minor for the high stick (as blood was drawn) on top of the tripping call. Both plays are inexcusable. He has earned some time off with his idiotic ways, and several notables in the media agree.

ESPN's E.J. Hradek wrote this about the Larague incident:

I'm pretty, pretty sure that Montreal Canadiens winger Georges Laraque will be suspended by the league for initiating the knee-to-knee collision with Detroit Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall, who'll be sidelined for four-to-eight weeks with a sprained MCL in his left knee as a result of the reckless play. Hey, things happen fast in a hockey game. But you can't stick your leg out every time a guy goes around you. If the league wants to clean up these types of plays, they can send a message by tagging Laraque with a double-digit suspension.

Scott Burnside, also with ESPN, had this to say:

We know Georges Laraque is a good guy who does lots of charity work, but we continue to be baffled about how he still has a job in the NHL. We watched as the Canadiens winger got caught out of position Saturday night. Then we saw him throwing a knee into Niklas Kronwall, sending one of the Detroit Red Wings' most important players to the sideline for as many as eight weeks. That prompts us to ask: To what end is Laraque's ice time at all valuable -- ever? Needless to say, Detroit coach Mike Babcock was not impressed by the knee-on-knee hit and called it dirty. He was being charitable. The NHL's Star Chamber style of discipline is on display once again; as of Monday, the league remains eerily silent about supplementary discipline for Laraque. For the record, Laraque has one assist in 10 games and is averaging 7 minutes, 4 seconds a night in ice time. He's making $1.5 million in the first year of a two-year, $3 million deal. Money well spent, no?

Does Laraque deserve a job in the NHL? Maybe not, but if some team is willing to pay him to ride the bench and hurt other people then he will continue to work. Although, he might be better off retiring. He could always pursue a career in promoting alcoholic energy drinks. Not too many hockey players get such endorsements now a days.

GEORGES LARAQUE VS OCTANE GIRLS
Uploaded by 33mag. - Find more steamy, sexy videos.

Griffin Eggs

Howie Does It Again-Jimmy Howard is turning into quite the reliable backup goaltender. When Chris Osgood was out with the flu, Howard received four straight starts and turned in a record of 3-1 in those games. Saturday he got the nod again and despite giving up two goals to Cammalleri in the third to tie the game and force overtime, he still got the win in the shootout. Howard made a glove save against Cammalleri on the first shootout attempt, and then Tomas Plekanec rang one off the post. Howard is now 5-3-1 on the season with solid statistics (2.76 goals-against average and .898 save percentage).

Some Meech Needed Ice Time-With Kronwall out for a long period of time, Derek Meech will get what he has struggled to get so far this season: consistent ice time. He has only appeared in five games this season, mostly filling in for the sometimes absent-minded Brett Lebda, and has a minus-2 rating. Babcock has mixed up the defensive pairings for tonight's game against Nashville. Watch for the big kid Ericsson to elevate and skate with Lidstrom, and Meech to pair with Stuart, while Rafalski and Lebda team up. It will be interesting to see how long this lasts as it will be Meech and Stuart on the second power play unit, leaving Rafalski without such duties.

Nugs and Notes

Stuart Steps Up-After his performance against Montreal it is no wonder why Babcock has Stuart playing the point on the power play. Usually a shy-shooter for the Wings, Stuart led all skaters with ten shots on Saturday and scored the first goal of the game, a power play goal. He also led all Detroit defensemen with 5:19 of power play time.

Z's Streak Snapped-Henrik Zetterberg did not register a point against the Canadiens, thus ending his five-game, eleven-point scoring streak. He was a minus-two on the night and only got one shot on Montreal goalie Carey Price, a rare but not so terrible occurrence. Hank is currently fifth in the league with 82 shots on net, and the only other time he has been held to one shot this season came in the 3-2 victory over the Blackhawks back in the third game of the season. In that game he earned an assist on Lidstrom's power play goal. In the Montreal game he scored the second Detroit shootout goal that insured the win.

Peace.